Buzz

By Sylvie Bigar

It’s dinner time. What are you in the mood for? Food in New York City is plentiful, although not everyone has access to it.

In November 1981, just before Thanksgiving, Gael Greene, then New York Magazine’s food critic learned that thousands of frail elders—the ones who couldn’t leave their apartments, would go four days without meals because the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA) didn’t deliver on weekends and holidays.

“I picked up my phone and dialed DFTA to express outrage that in a city of such abundance, we could not care for our elderly neighbors in need,” she remembers. And she didn’t stop there. Ms. Greene called her buddy, cookbook author and teacher James Beard and with the help of friends, raised enough money to deliver 6,000 meals on Christmas Day. Citymeals on Wheels was born. By 1991, they were delivering one million meals annually. Today, Citymeals, is delivering its 60 millionth meal!

A deliverer hands out a warm meal

Everything starts at the thirty meal centers where staff and volunteers cook and prepare the meal packages. “I learned to cook with my mother,” said Chef Juan Cruz, who has worked there for 17 years. “We make everything from scratch.” Throughout the morning, deliverers pick up the hand-pulled carts and scatter around the five boroughs. Natasha Vanderhorst delivers hot meals to about fifty people in the Chelsea area, but in fact, she is bringing much more than food. “For many elders,” she said, “I am the only person they see in a day,” so she visits with them while at the same time keeping an eye on the clock to make sure she gets to everyone.

Out of the 18,414 seniors helped by Citymeals, 200 are over 100 years-old. Some have outlived their children and are completely isolated.